


Ikaros

by Freuen



Category: Deus Ex (Video Games), Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Genre: Gen, Introspection, Light Angst, Mythology References, Survivor Guilt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:48:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22826677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freuen/pseuds/Freuen
Summary: The water isn't cold, but the weight of past decisions is.
Kudos: 11





	Ikaros

The feeling of the sand blasting his skin came sharp and quick, the pain surprising him more than he expected it would, particularly given the small amount of skin exposed to the elements.

As he hit the water of the Gulf and was pushed under by the force of the wind, he suddenly longed for the feeling of that sting.

A distant part of him realized that It wasn’t cold that he felt upon his skin, felt somehow sinking into carbon fiber. He knew the water was warm, yet he shivered, sank.

He saw a body, or at least what remained. He saw the steel.

He saw white. Was it ice? Was this the end? Again? Was he doomed to live this again, the moment of his failure, the moment he started sinking… or rising…

He could not move, why couldn’t he move.

Was he alive, was he dying, was he already dead?

He saw lights. Where? Where were they? Below? Above? Tartaros? Elysium? Was Charon waiting with Kerberos to judge him and find him wanting? He could hardly blame them if this were the case. He'd failed. Failed to save so many at Panchaea, in Detroit, in Hengsha, in places that he had yet to visit except in tortured dreams.

The bodies in the sand. Untouched by anything but time, given no service, unburied. Alone. 

At least the dead of Panchaea had Amphitrite to welcome them. To wrap them in her embrace. To not be left as bodies alone and uncovered. How cruel of fate that he might meet this same end while the innocent and blameless should be left as pariah and outcast, left and forgotten.

He felt something, pulling. Down, up, he wasn’t sure. He wasn’t sure he cared.

His head breached the surface of the water. He saw a VTOL above him and heard familiar voices. TF29?

“Agent Jensen!”

It was the last thing he heard before things went black. 

**Author's Note:**

> This ficlet is based off of the post by remember-panchaea here: https://remember-panchaea.tumblr.com/post/186825773929/dubai-sandstorm-and-opening-credits-cinematic
> 
> I definitely haven't done any justice to the idea, so I might edit and expand this in the future.


End file.
